Graham Stack is worried Hibs won't realise their ambitions of qualifying for the Europa League despite a barnstorming start to the campaign.

Graham Stack fears Hibernian have been found out after their fine start to the season came further off the rails in Saturday’s 2-1 derby defeat to Hearts. The Hibs goalie, who dropped a clanger by misjudging the flight of the ball for the Tynecastle club’s opening goal, fears that optimism over a possible second placed finish from manager John Hughes may have been misplaced.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Stack, who moved to Hibs from Plymouth Argyle in 2009, has been a crucial part of a team which roared out in front in the race for third place early on in the campaign, raising hopes that they could split the Old Firm.

That challenge has fallen away ever since they went to Celtic Park in January and came away with a 2-1 victory, with the Hibees winning just two of their eight league games since.

“Maybe, in a way, we set out stall out too well to early on,” conceded Stack. “Expectations were so high the punters thought we were better than we actually are.

“Perhaps we have been found out a bit as we are not as great as we all thought. If we went out the cup then it turns our season upside down.

“We were looking at finishing comfortably in third place after a great run of results gave us a gap. We were looking at the top two places but what has happened shows how quickly football turns around.

“The question now is whether we can finish fourth. We have big games coming up and the picture of where we will finish is going to be clearer. We want to get third place and as far as I’m concerned, that’s still on.”

Despite their recent barren run, Hibs are still in the hunt for a European spot through the league and occupy fifth place in the table, one point behind Motherwell in fourth and two behind Dundee United in third.

Before they can turn their attentions back to ending that worrying run, they have to travel to Dingwall on Tuesday night in a tricky Scottish Cup quarter final replay against First Division title challengers Ross County.

Stack feels that a victory, while putting them into the Scottish Cup semi-finals, could also prove the catalyst for a recovery with nine SPL games left to salvage their European hopes.

“We all know it’s not been good enough in the past few weeks,” said Stack. “Maybe there is a lack of confidence around the place at the moment and rightly so.

“We haven’t won many games recently. Now we have a massive match on Tuesday. We have this game against Ross County to put things right and get Hibs into a semi-final.”

Postcode iThere are some shows on the STV Player that you can only watch if you live in one of our license regions. Your postcode is a simple and easy way for us to check this.OkayWe need this to check that you live in an STV region.

This field is required.This doesn't appear to be a valid postcode

Would you like us to email you about our great shows and services from time to time?

We'll only send emails we think you'll like (see example) based on information you have supplied and shows you have watched on STV Player. For details on emails and advertising, see our STV & You page.

Would you like to receive emails from the Scottish Children's Lottery about draws, instant games and competitions?

We support the Scottish Children's Lottery (SCL), which is managed by our colleagues at STV ELM Ltd. You can find out more about the SCL on its website, including its Privacy Policy.

LocationPlease tick this box to confirm that you are a resident of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man.This field is required.

Parental ConsentPlease tick this box to confirm that you have received consent from a parent or guardian in order to complete this form and submit your vote.This field is required.

That's you. All that's left is to click the 'Submit Vote' button below. By doing so, you confirm that you and your parent or guardian have read and accept our Voting Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie policy, and that the details you have entered are correct. We'll look after them as carefully as if they were our own.